Planned Parenthood President: Women’s Issues Are Economic Issues

ABC News(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Women voters may be more concerned with putting gas in the car and having enough money for groceries than they are with reproductive rights and women’s health care. But Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, said women worried about their pocketbooks should be paying attention to what Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has planned.

“Issues of access to health care, affordable health care … Planned Parenthood — that is an economic issue for women,” Richards said on the ABC News/Yahoo News DNC Live Show Wednesday.

Access to basic women’s health care, getting insurance for preventative care for women, she said, “those are bread-and-butter pocketbook issues,” and things that, “Mitt Romney says he’s going to get rid of on day one.”

Democrats may not be making the strong connection between women’s issues and the economy, though Richards said that does not bother her.

“I’m frustrated with people who somehow lump birth control and women’s health care as a social issue,” she said.

Generic birth control can cost as much as $75 per month.

“It’s only a social issue if you’ve never had to get birth control,” she said. “For women, these are basic issues.”